“Congratulations! You made it! “, said a placecom member with a thumbs up! I was overwhelmed beyond words… I knew I had landed myself with the perfect Internship for myself and my profile. I was selected for the Bid Management role (A Bid Manager is an executive sales role within an organisation, responsible for managing bids in response to Request for Proposals (RFPs) from clients: Wikipedia Definition) at Capgemini under Chrysalis, their Student Internship programme. I am a computer science engineer and marketing are my love. Beyond this, I love writing. Bid management at Capgemini (a leading Giant in the IT Sector, aligned with my undergrad background) involves writing proposals which require marketing skills to pitch the company. More than all of this, my work location was Hyderabad – The Paradise of Biryanis!; My chance to unite with my love for biriyanis!!! I was beyond thrilled and excited.
On 2
nd April I set off to Pune, where our 5-day common induction was to be held. We were given amazing accommodation at Capgemini’s guesthouse. Our office was around an hour’s drive from the guesthouse. Their cabs were on time every morning to pick us up. Induction was fun which included us ramp-walking, playing various team games like paper building activity, sword activity and many more. Last three days were very informational where various people from the top level management came and had interactions with us. That Friday we set off as together to Hyderabad.
Weekend was off for us to settle down in our respective accommodations. We were assigned to two mentors and a buddy. Monday we set off to Capgemini. Another girl and I were the only 2 selected for the Bid Management role. We both were received by our mentor and were taken to our work hub. We were introduced to our team by our chirpy and cheerful mentor and we were immediately given cubicles and laptops. The best thing that I noticed about my team and that impressed me the most was that that the Business Unit (BU) head was seated with us! The team had such a flat hierarchy and it was unbelievable that the BU Head was seated with us and I just had to turn my head to see him. The team was very informal and we felt part of the team very soon.
The first week was very intense on knowledge transfer. We were given deep insights about the company, team, technicalities of the work, the various departments that work together , how and when they work together and the value bid management adds to the whole company and so much more. We came to know that we didn’t have a project as such but we had to observe the team for two weeks and work along with them on live RFI/RFPs and give suggestions on how to improvise the working. The rest two weeks the other girl and I were split up were made to shadow our team mates. I was made to attend live client calls and give my inputs. I was really surprised when all my suggestions were thoughts were put into the RFI (for a huge Insurance company) and submitted to the client.
Amidst all of this we were given an amazing informal team party where we got a chance to get closer with the entire team. There was no hierarchy seen during the party and the best part was that nobody treated us as “they are just a couple of interns!” instead our BU Head had fun conversations with us.
After this was we were given dummy bids (already completed bids, 1 for each of us) and we were asked to do the entire bid setup over the weekend. I took this seriously as it was counted as our mid intern reviews. I presented my entire bid-set up to my BU Head, mentors and buddy for 2 hours. I was given constructive feedback for the each slide. It was scary as hell initially, but as time passed during the presentation my nervousness went down and I was myself and took in all the constructive feedback. That two hours taught me so much more than what books and classrooms could ever teach me.
The next Monday when I came to office, my mentor came to me and asked me to check my mail and that was when I came to know that I was assigned as the Bid Manager for a live bid! I never expected that an intern would be made as the bid manager for a live bid for a huge multinational bank! I immediately sprang into action and started reading the RFP, working on the bid setup and got prepared to manage the entire bid. I had an amazing buddy assigned to me who guided me along the way. But I was the face of the bid. I was on all calls; I managed all the meetings and workshops, and took care of the entire bid with the guidance of my buddy for the entire timeline of the bid which was 3 weeks. It was great as my intern was ending in 3 weeks as well. The other intern with me was assigned to another live bid as well. After 3 weeks of working 10-12 hours and even weekends, we submitted the bid on time successfully. There were various ups and downs when my buddy helped me patiently where my learning curve and people management skills went growing upwards exponentially. The best thing that happened was when my BU head stood up for me saying that the bid was in good hands when I was doubted if I could handle the entire bid. It was more than just encouragement for me; I knew that I had what it takes and it was one of the best motivations ever in my life.
My internship was concluded with a presentation to my team head, and other department heads. Our BU Head even took his time off to review our presentations and gave us both lifelong tips to nail any kind of presentations with a huge “bang”!
I would never call my internship experience as an internship experience but an experience of a lifetime. One of my team members told me “Bid management is not just work or career... It is an experience.. You gain one on every bid you work on..”… How true was he!
I went to my internship looking out for a desk job. I came out gaining so much of knowledge and akills which are beyond words and this article! I would like to take this opportunity to thank IIM Indore for giving me this perfectly aligned internship and my BU Head, Mentors, Buddy and team-mates and all those who helped me beyond just work, from Capgemini for the richest Internship ever! And cheers to the lovely friendships I made during the internship. (P.S I also received love in the form of Prawns and chicken all the way from West Bengal to Indore from one of the friends I made during the 2 months!!). How much better can an internship be?